Humanities 110

Paper Topics | Fall 2007 | Paper 3

Maximum Length 1500 words
Due Saturday, November 10th 5 p.m., in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.

1. In Herodotuss account of the Massagetae in Book 1 of his Histories, Croesus tells Cyrus that human life is like a revolving wheel and never allows the same people to continue long in prosperity (1.207). However, within a few sentences of Croesuss pronouncement, Herodotus compares the virtues of Massagetae society to the cultural excesses of the Persians. Is the principle of an eternally revolving and leveling arm of fortune at odds with Herodotuss interest in cultural specificity? Through an analysis of two or, at most, three specific scenes, discuss the relationship between universal principles and evidence of cultural variation in Herodotuss work as a historian.

2. Thucydidess History is still considered by many to be the definitive statement on the causes of war. What does he see as the connection between internal factors (such as greed, hubris, democratic will, factions within the polis, economic pressures, etc.) and the ways city-states relate to one another within the Peloponnese? Focus on two or three passages to support your claims.

3. Speech and discourse are central features of Athenian society and of Thucydidess account of the Peloponnesian war. Does Thucydides view democratic debate and speech as positive throughout his history? Through an analysis of at least two passages, discuss either (1) how and why his views of democratic speech change or (2) the significance of them not changing.

4. The classicist Peter Burian has argued: Greek tragedy constitutes a grandiose set of variations on a few legendary and formal themes, forever repeating but never the same (Myth into Muthos: The Shaping of Tragic Plot; emphasis added). Burian also claims that myth serves to validate cultural norms while drama problematizes them. What cultural norms does Oedipus problematize and to what ends? How is repetition essential to the play?

5. In Archaic and Classical Greek Art, Robin Osborne argues that following the Persian war there was a shift in the representation of the idealized male body. He argues specifically about the Kritios Boy that, this boy turns his head intent upon his own story in which the twist of his hips guarantees that he is an actor and not merely a spectator (Osborne 159). The Tomba del Tuffatore (Tomb of the Diver) was painted ca. 480-470 BCE and depicts a symposium scene, a youth diving, and a man entering the symposium. How does the representation of multiple actors and spectators in the tomb reflect this new post-Persian war ideal? Why are these scenes included in a tomb? Use both formal analysis (close reading of stylistic elements) and iconographic analysis (a study of traditional symbolic references) to support your argument. You may either focus solely on the larger symposium scene, or you can provide a programmatic analysis that explains how the three scenes together relate to the tombs function. Zoomable versions of the images of the tomb are available here.

In addition to consulting with your conference leader, you can get help with all stages of the writing process from peer tutors at the Writing Center. You can find links to the Writing Center hours on the Drop-in Tutoring Schedule website. Extra tutoring help will be available in the week leading up to paper due dates.